Virtual engagement platforms like the Virtual Engagement Solution (VES) can save organizations significant costs by allowing them to conduct virtual rather than in-person events. The document discusses how the CDC has saved an average of $460,000 per event converted from in-person to virtual, and estimates the CDC could save over $160 million over 10 years by increasing virtual events. It introduces the concept of "perpetual venues," which would allow virtual events and collaboration spaces to persist long-term rather than just during a single event. Potential use cases highlighted include security, compliance, accessibility, and data analytics.

1. Adam B. Arthur
Virtual Platform Initiative (VPI) Director
Health Communications Specialist
Perpetual Venues:
Extend ROI
Through Touch
Point Engagement
& MicroLearning

2. Agenda
• Virtual Engagement
• Digital Participants
• Touch-Point Engagement
• MicroLearning
• CDC Virtual Platform Initiative (VPI)
• Virtual Engagement Solution (VES)
• Perpetual Venues Concept
• Potential Savings
• Use Cases
• Q&A

3. The opportunities and/or occurrences of online technology use that facilitates social
or strategic training, learning, research, collaboration, and/or other types of
information transfer.
Virtual Engagements

4. Stages of Virtual Engagement

5. 5
Optimizing Results in Virtual Engagement

6. Finding What is Important to the Digital Participant
• There is a need to analyze and weigh the value of the
information to the individual, mission, organization
• Information delivery must happen when the Participant
wants it
Finding the Digital Participant’s Points of Engagement
 Where does the Participant get their preferred information?
 Information needs to be disseminated across a variety of
preferred technologies, groups, sites, portals and devices to
reach the Digital Participant
Understanding the Spectrum of Virtual Engagement

7. Points to Remember
 Participants want to feel like they are important and that their opinions matter
 Participants want to feel like they are a part of a movement or a caring community
 Participants want to support initiatives and causes that line-up to their values or popular
opinion
Touch Point Engagement Points

8. Touch
Point
Lifecycle
Stage
Operational
Purpose
Role in Participant
Experience
Touch Point
Owner
Importance
/ Impact
Inventory Your Touch Points

9. Inventory Your Touch Points: Take Stock

10. Touch
Point
Inventory Your Touch Points: Map Creation
• Websites
• Blogs
• Emails
• Newsletters
• Press Coverage
• Articles
• Events
• Webinars
• Brochures
• Advertisement
• Social media
• Research Papers
• Trainings
• Meetings
• Campaign Deployments
• Help Desk
• Collaboration Groups

11. Inventory Your Touch Points: Phase

12. Inventory Your Touch Points: Score
Touch
Point
Lifecycle
Stage
Operational
Purpose
Role in
Participant
Experience
Touch Point
Owner
Impact
FaceBook Identify
Part.
Capture Info Awareness Communications 8
Website Lay Basis Influence Percept Consideration IT 10
Newsletter Hurry Conv. Building
Preference
Conversion Communications 4
Form Identify
Part.
Capture Info Conversion IT 6
Share But. Spread
Reach
Loyalty Marketing Advocacy IT 10
Operational
Effectiveness
8
4
3
10
10
Participant
Experience
Effectiveness
10
7
2
6
10

13. • Newsletter• Website
• Form• Share
Button
• FaceBook
HIGH
OPERATIONAL/
HIGH PARTICIPANT
EFFECTIVENESS
HIGH
OPERATIONAL/ LOW
PARTICIPANT
EFFECTIVENESS
LOW
OPERATIONAL/
LOW PARTICIPANT
EFFECTIVENESS
LOW
OPERATIONAL/
HIGH PARTICIPANT
EFFECTIVENESS
Operational
Effectiveness
Participant
Experience
Effectiveness
Inventory Your Touch Points: Role Effectiveness

14. Touch Point Action Plan
Importance Score
Effectiveness Score

15. • Experience your organization through your participant’s eyes
Touch Point Success
• Include all Touch Point owners in scoring and corrective actions
• Accept the fact that every interaction matters
• Everyone is responsible for delivering a great experience

16. MicroLearning
What is MicroLearning?
• Provides “bite-size” information to the learner
• Information delivery happens when, where and how
the learner wants it
• Solves problems of dwindling attention spans, limited
time, shrinking budgets, and evolving technology
• Offers accessibility from a variety of devices such as
phones, laptops, and tablets
• Flexible and learner-driven
• Modular and cost effective
• Holistic and meaningful
• Repeatable and broad

17. MicroLearning Size
What is a Correct Length?
• Keep it short and accessible
• Between only 90 seconds to 5 minutes
• Learning can even takes place quickly
• Keep content less than an hour
• If longer than an hour, use clickable content headings

18. Know where you’re headed before you begin
Determine Learning Objective
Employ an Instructional Design Methodology
 Design easy to access and navigate modules or you will lose
the learner before they begin
 Determine the current state and needs of the learner
 Define the end goal of instruction
 Create interventions to assist in the transition
Work Backwards From Your End Goal
Determine the learning objective
• Identify what to include or exclude in course content
• Select a design and format

19. Build it fast to keep them engaged
Choose a Rapid Creation Format
Go for Rapid Creation
 Select and use a rapid development software
 Select a CMS or LMS
 Select a content repository
Choose a Format
Videos, Games or Quizzes
 Meet the needs of the content
 Meet the needs of the technological infrastructure
 Meet the needs of the target audience
 Meet the needs of time and budget

20. Think ‘Less is More’
Organize & Analyze the Content
Create an Outline
Conduct a content audit
 Determine, prioritize and outline the hierarchy of course
 Separate ‘must-be-learned’ and supportive content
 Prioritize and position essential content up-front
Do A Memory Check
Think ‘Recall Memory’
• Use 4 or 5 items
• Use meaningful visuals
• Meet the needs of the target audience
• Use meaningful and relevant content

21. Less is More with a Micro Lesson
Make it ‘Chunky’
Chunk Your Content
Break content into small units
 Reduces complexity
 Fits into an application’s appropriate timeslot
 Watchable at any time, in any order
 Presents a broad, holistic perspective of the content
Keep the Goal in Mind
 Ensure units are objective-oriented
 Ensure units are based on experienced need

22. Context Takes Precedence Over Content
Make it Engaging
Use Context
 Forge a connection between micro content and context
 Allow learners to provide examples from their world
Use Visuals
 Use bullets
 Use numbered lists
 Use graphics
Use Stories
 Told easily with a picture, animation or few words
 Aid in ‘instant learning’
 Adds ‘stickiness’ to content

23. Develop Your Content in Ways that Stay With Learners
Make it Sticky
Select a Small Idea
 Forge a connection between micro content and context
 Allow learners to provide examples from their world
‘Sticky’ Definition:
Encourages transfer by giving the real world application and a cultural or social context
to your content
Add an Event
 Imagine a relevant scenario
 Describe the scenario as an example
Embed the Idea
 Play out the event
 Embed the idea in the example
Make it ‘Swirl’
 Facilitate connections by allowing content to “swirl”

24. Augment Your Content to Make it Better, Faster, Stronger
Make it Effective
Add Reference Tools
 Add easy-to-navigate reference tools
 Consider clickable table of contents or mobile apps
Use Gamification
 Gamify content through participant satisfaction
Use Attention Formulas
 Use the 90 min/20 min/8 min rule when developing modules (minimum)
 Aim for a 90 sec/30 sec/4 min formula when developing modules

25. High Performance is a Product of Continuous Strategic Alignment
Test and Retest
Test & Retest Your Learners
 Generate exams, assessments, surveys and branded certificates for learners
 Track participation, engagement, and completion rates
Test & Retest Your System
 Gather feedback, repeat and plan the next training faster
 Use an LMS to present your MicroLearning modules, and to gather deep reporting and data
analysis to build data-driven learning

26.  VPI was established in 2011 to
address the gap in CDC’s ability to
conduct frequent, cost-effective
knowledge exchange activities with
stakeholders
 VPI has been a game-changer, with
the mission to innovate – by
leveraging products from industry
that can be enhanced to create new
solutions for addressing
collaboration challenges in
government
Virtual Platform Initiative (VPI)

27. Virtual Engagement Solution (VES)
Description: VES is the immersive web-
based communication and collaboration
platform that allows users to navigate life-
like virtual rooms, encounter live and pre-
developed content, and interact with other
virtual participants using a variety of built-
in networking tools.
Suggested Use: Medium to Large-scale
events (250 – 3,000 people)
Status: In use at CDC
Shown: CDC Public Health Informatics Virtual Event
Virtual Platform Initiative (VPI): VES Project

28. Social Networking
User profiles, networks, text &
video chat, email, content meta
data (tagging)
eLearning
Saba, Captivate; integrates
with Learning Management
Systems
Communications
Webcasting, webinars, streaming
audio & video, web links, podcasts,
RSS feeds
Collaboration
Wiki, Database, SharePoint
Perpetual Venues Concept
VES acts as an immersive code “wrapper” - combining multiple collaborative
technologies together – replicating ‘real-world’ learning and training. Adding to this
model, a Perpetual Venue concept is created by extending this capability persistently.

29. Total Cost Savings Exceed $160M Over 10 Years
Key Financial Figures
 Virtual events cost 96.5% less than in-
person events ($16,574 vs. $474,704)
 CDC saves an average of $460,000
for each event converted from in-person
to virtual
 CDC needs to convert approximately 1
in-person event to virtual to offset
virtual event annual costs
 CDC can realize cost savings more than
$160M over 10 years, and introduce
significant budget flexibility
Financial data extrapolated from 2012 HHS
event data, applied to CDC use-cases.
Total Agency Event Costs Decline Dramatically
as More In-Person Events Become Virtual
0% Conversion: $18.6M
50% Conversion: $10.6M
100%
Conversion:
$2.6M
Perpetual Venues: Cost Savings
Question: What cost savings could organizations expect to see using PVs?

30. – Security: Meets strict FISMA and FedRamp security
requirements
– Compliance: Assists in complying with
numerous agency and Executive Branch initiatives
– Accessibility: Reaches geographically dispersed
participants while remaining Section 508 and
21st Century Communications & Video compliance
– Data Analytics: Data of participant activity can be
used to make informed decisions
– Flexibility: System can be customized to
accommodate additional technologies and
functionality as needed
– Fosters Online Communities: Joins colleagues virtually through engaging online
interactions and educational experiences
– Green Alternative: Reduces carbon emissions associated with travel to in-person events
Perpetual Venues: Cost Savings
Question: What other benefits could organizations expect to see using PVs?

31. Prospective VES: Complete Human Capital
Capitalment
Prospective PVs: Virtual Offices

32. Prospective PVs: Recruitment and Job Fairs

33. • Instant access to
existing and new
information
• Mobile
communications
• LMS systems
integration
Prospective PVs: eLearning Integration
Potential Use Case: Learning Management System Integration

34. • Live collaboration
• Live or on-demand
training content
• Document sharing
• Job Training
• Culture Infusion
Prospective PVs: Orientation/On-Boarding

35. Prospective PVs: Virtual Classroom

36. Prospective PVs: Telehealth
Potential Use Case: Remote Surgery Consultation and Training

37. Summary
• Virtual Engagement
• Digital Participants
• Touch-Point Engagement
• MicroLearning
• CDC Virtual Platform Initiative (VPI)
• Virtual Engagement Solution (VES)
• Perpetual Venues Concept
• Potential Savings and Use Cases